I Won’t Stop Until You Get Your Needs Met

One of my favourite TV shows of all time is Mad Men starring Jon Hamm who plays Don Draper, a 1960’s Madison Avenue Advertising Executive.

I suppose the reason that I enjoy it so much is Mad Men goes back to where the print and TV spin doctors all began selling ice cubes to Eskimos or was it alcohol, cigarettes and drugs to human beings. We didn’t know we had a need until a spin doctor told us we did, as we have always been needing. It is impossible to get our unmet needs met outside of ourselves – we have to be our own spin doctor.

Every other show Don is doing one of his sales pitches to executives from a Fortune 50 / 500 company and this transcription from the Sunday, June 3^rd 2012 Season 5, Episode 12 “Rites Of Passage” is one of the best.

Don Draper:       I want to talk about your business.

Client:                   What about it?

Don Draper:       I have been looking at what you are doing and I think that you are in desperate need of change.

Client:                   And you are just the guy to do it?

Don Draper:       I am.

Client:                   We appreciate that and we are very happy at our agency. We are at 50% market share with almost everything we make.

Don Draper:       Even though success is a reality its affects are temporary. You get hungry even though you have just eaten.

Client:                   That doesn’t change the fact that we are happy with our agency.

Don Draper:       Are you? You are happy with 50%? You are on top and you don’t have enough. You are happy because you are successful – for now. But what is happiness? It is a moment before you need more happiness. I want 100%. You are happy with your agency. You are not happy with anything. You don’t want most of it. You want all of it. I won’t stop till you get all of it. Thank you for your time.

Client:                   Thank you for stopping by.